Continuing the McMonagle Tradition

My grandfather Carl McMonagle, grew up with billiards.  His Dad, Luther Wiley, son of Hamilton James Wiley, had the Billiard Hall in Kawhai, and his mother Eliza Hughes, owned the General Store.

Tighe trying out the new pool table

I remember most of my school holidays, playing billiards with Grandad.  Now my children can continue the tradition.

Butterfly Bay, Whangaroa

No driving today, just exploring the beach, the rocks, the caves, and the bay.

 Tighe ran back to the cabin to get a torch to see how deep the cave was.

 Lots of little coves, and rock arches and caves for the urchins to explore.

 At low tide, we could get to another bay, Butterfly Bay, but there weren't any butterflies.

 Amazing rock structures, and plenty of sand for the urchins to build on.

 I suspect this is petrified wood, there was a huge boulder of lava type rock, and this interesting brown rocks stuck in it.

 The boulders were huge, and the urchins HAD to climb to the top of them.

Oscar's shadow on top of a rock

Tighe on top of a rock

 These huge boulders appeared to be made up of lots of small rocks bound together by a cataclysmic event.

Tighe resting on the boulder

Anneke exploring the rockpools

 The sand layout was perfect for constructing a fort, and plenty of driftwood for "posts".

 The urchins constructed an amazing fort on the beach.

 Anneke built this amazing staircase up to the fort.

 The fort just got bigger and bigger.

Looking back to Tauranga Bay

On the way back to Tauranga Bay

School Holidays! Mt Pirongia with Jack

The great thing about school holidays, you get to spend time with your cousins.  We went exploring up Mt Pirongia.  I think the boys just enjoy using the chains at the top of Rua Pane.

Jack, Quinn, Tighe on the way up

Chains at top

At the top of the second (Rua) hill

Coming Down